Editing History of Iran (section)

===Mongol conquest and rule (1219–1358)===
===={{anchor|Mongol invasion (1219-1221)}}Mongol invasion (1219–1221)====
{{Main|Mongol invasion of Central Asia|Mongol invasion of Persia|Mongol Empire}}

[[File:East-Hem 1200ad.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Eurasia]] on the eve of the Mongol invasions, ''c.'' 1200]]
[[File:Mongol Empire map.gif|thumb|upright=1.3|The Mongol Empire's expansion]]

The [[Khwarazmian dynasty]] only lasted for a few decades, until the arrival of the [[Mongols]]. [[Genghis Khan]] had unified the Mongols, and under him the [[Mongol Empire]] quickly expanded in several directions. In 1218, it bordered Khwarezm. At that time, the Khwarazmian Empire was ruled by [[Muhammad II of Khwarezm|Ala ad-Din Muhammad]] (1200–1220). Muhammad, like Genghis, was intent on expanding his lands and had gained the submission of most of Iran. He declared himself shah and demanded formal recognition from the Abbasid caliph [[Al-Nasir]]. When the caliph rejected his claim, Ala ad-Din Muhammad proclaimed one of his nobles caliph and unsuccessfully tried to depose an-Nasir.

The [[Mongol invasion of Khwarezmia and Eastern Iran|Mongol invasion of Iran]] began in 1219, after two diplomatic missions to Khwarezm sent by Genghis Khan had been massacred. During 1220–21 [[Bukhara]], [[Samarkand]], [[Herat]], [[Tus, Iran|Tus]] and [[Nishapur]] were razed, and the whole populations were slaughtered. The Khwarezm-Shah fled, to die on an island off the Caspian coast.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32173/Iran|title=Iran – history – geography|access-date=2007-06-25|archive-date=2008-06-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080625022733/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-32173/Iran|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the invasion of [[Transoxiana]] in 1219, along with the main Mongol force, Genghis Khan used a Chinese specialist catapult unit in battle, they were used again in 1220 in Transoxania. The Chinese may have used the catapults to hurl gunpowder bombs, since they already had them by this time.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C&q=transoxania+chinese+gunpowder+catapult&pg=PA58 |title=Firearms: a global history to 1700 |author=Kenneth Warren Chase |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=illustrated |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-82274-2 |page=58 |quote=Chinggis Khan organized a unit of Chinese catapult specialists in 1214, and these men formed part of the first Mongol army to invade Transoxania in 1219. This was not too early for true firearms, and it was nearly two centuries after catapult-thrown gunpowder bombs had been added to the Chinese arsenal. Chinese siege equipment saw action in Transoxania in 1220 and in the north Caucasus in 1239–40. |archive-date=2021-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104153953/https://books.google.com/books?id=esnWJkYRCJ4C&q=transoxania+chinese+gunpowder+catapult&pg=PA58 |url-status=live }}</ref>

While Genghis Khan was conquering Transoxania and Persia, several Chinese who were familiar with gunpowder were serving in Genghis's army.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgQXAQAAIAAJ&q=Though+he+was+himself+a+Chinese,+he+learned+his+trade+from+his+father,+who+had+accompanied+Genghis+Khan+on+his+invasion+of+Muslim+Transoxania+and+Iran.+Perhaps+the+use+of+gunpowder+as+a+propellant,+in+other+words+the+invention+of+true |title=The Mongol Warlords: Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, Hulegu, Tamerlane |author=David Nicolle |author2=Richard Hook |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=illustrated |year=1998 |publisher=Brockhampton Press |isbn=1-86019-407-9 |page=86 |quote=Though he was himself a Chinese, he learned his trade from his father, who had accompanied Genghis Khan on his invasion of Muslim Transoxania and Iran. Perhaps the use of gunpowder as a propellant, in other words the invention of true guns, appeared first in the Muslim Middle East, whereas the invention of gunpowder itself was a Chinese achievement |archive-date=2016-04-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412094659/https://books.google.com/books?id=OgQXAQAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> "Whole regiments" entirely made out of Chinese were used by the Mongols to command bomb hurling trebuchets during the invasion of Iran.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&q=Chinese+engineers+operating+trebuchets+%28catapults%29+throwing+gunpowder+bombs.+Their+progress+was+rapid+and+devastating+until%2C+after+the+sack+of+Baghdad+in+1258%2C+they+entered+Syria.+There+they+met+an+Islamic+army+similarly+equipped+and&pg=PA46 |title=Technology in world civilization: a thousand-year history |author=Arnold Pacey |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=reprint, illustrated |year=1991 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=0-262-66072-5 |page=46 |quote=During the 1250s, the Mongols invaded Iran with 'whole regiments' of Chinese engineers operating trebuchets (catapults) throwing gunpowder bombs. Their progress was rapid and devastating until, after the sack of Baghdad in 1258, they entered Syria. There they met an Islamic army similarly equipped and experienced their first defeat. In 1291, the same sort of weapon was used during the siege of Acre, when the European Crusaders were expelled form Palestine. |archive-date=2020-08-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820015938/https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C |url-status=live }}</ref> Historians have suggested that the Mongol invasion had brought Chinese gunpowder weapons to Central Asia. One of these was the [[huochong]], a Chinese mortar.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzG5llo3YCMC&q=Indeed%2C+it+is+possible+that+gunpowder+devices%2C+including+Chinese+mortar+%28+huochong%29%2C+had+reached+Central+Asia+through+the+Mongols+as+early+as+the+thirteenth+century.71+Yet+the+potential+remained+unexploited%3B&pg=PA474 |title=History of Civilizations of Central Asia: Development in contrast: from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century |author=Chahryar Adle |author2=Irfan Habib |editor1=Ahmad Hasan Dani |editor2=Chahryar Adle |editor3=Irfan Habib |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=illustrated |volume=5 of History of Civilizations of Central Asia |year=2003 |publisher=UNESCO |isbn=92-3-103876-1 |page=474 |quote=Indeed, it is possible that gunpowder devices, including Chinese mortar (huochong), had reached Central Asia through the Mongols as early as the thirteenth century.71 Yet the potential remained unexploited; even Sultan Husayn's use of cannon may have had Ottoman inspiration. |archive-date=2020-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200723141803/https://books.google.com/books?id=AzG5llo3YCMC |url-status=live }}</ref> Books written around the area afterward depicted gunpowder weapons which resembled those of China.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&q=The+presence+of+these+individuals+in+China+in+the+1270s%2C+and+the+deployment+of+Chinese+engineers+in+Iran%2C+mean+that+there+were+several+routes+by+which+information+about+gunpowder+weapons+could+pass+from+the+Islamic+world+to+China%2C+or+vice+versa.+Thus+when+two+authors+from+the+eastern+Mediterranean+region+wrote+books+about+gunpowder+weapons+around+the+year+1280%2C+it+is+not+suprising+that+they+described+bombs%2C+rockets+and+fire-lances+very+similar+to+some+types+of+Chinese+weaponry.&pg=PA46 |title=Technology in world civilization: a thousand-year history |author=Arnold Pacey |access-date=2011-11-28 |edition=reprint, illustrated |year=1991 |publisher=MIT Press |isbn=0-262-66072-5 |page=46 |quote=The presence of these individuals in China in the 1270s, and the deployment of Chinese engineers in Iran, mean that there were several routes by which information about gunpowder weapons could pass from the Islamic world to China, or vice versa. Thus when two authors from the eastern Mediterranean region wrote books about gunpowder weapons around the year 1280, it is not surprising that they described bombs, rockets and fire-lances very similar to some types of Chinese weaponry. |archive-date=2021-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210104155102/https://books.google.com/books?id=X7e8rHL1lf4C&q=The+presence+of+these+individuals+in+China+in+the+1270s,+and+the+deployment+of+Chinese+engineers+in+Iran,+mean+that+there+were+several+routes+by+which+information+about+gunpowder+weapons+could+pass+from+the+Islamic+world+to+China,+or+vice+versa.+Thus+when+two+authors+from+the+eastern+Mediterranean+region+wrote+books+about+gunpowder+weapons+around+the+year+1280,+it+is+not+suprising+that+they+described+bombs,+rockets+and+fire-lances+very+similar+to+some+types+of+Chinese+weaponry.&pg=PA46 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Destruction under the Mongols ====
Before his death in 1227, Genghis had reached western Azerbaijan, pillaging and burning many cities along the way after entering into Iran from its north east.

The Mongol invasion was by and large disastrous to the Iranians. Although the Mongol invaders eventually converted to Islam and accepted the culture of Iran, the Mongol destruction in Iran and other regions of the Islamic heartland (particularly the historical Khorasan region, mainly in Central Asia) marked a major change of direction for the region. Much of the six centuries of Islamic scholarship, culture, and infrastructure was destroyed as the invaders leveled cities, burned libraries, and in some cases replaced mosques with [[Buddhist temple]]s.{{sfn|May|2012|p=185}}<ref>[https://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/ The Il-khanate] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610151205/http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/islam/mongols/ |date=2007-06-10 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-3 |title=IRAN ii. IRANIAN HISTORY (2) Islamic period p – Encyclopaedia Iranica<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2021-10-27 |archive-date=2021-10-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027011625/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/iran-ii2-islamic-period-page-3 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Mongols killed many Iranian civilians. Destruction of [[qanat]] irrigation systems in the north east of Iran destroyed the pattern of relatively continuous settlements, producing many abandoned towns which were relatively quite good with irrigation and agriculture.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/cambridge-history-of-iran-vol-v-the-saljuq-and-mongol-periods-edited-by-j-a-boyle-pp-xiii-762-16-pl-cambridge-university-press-1968-375/500FB3BC61352E3DF36AE63FD5D4CA16|title=The Cambridge History of Iran|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=V: The Saljuq and Mongol periods|editor=J. A. Boyle|pages=Xiii, 762, 16|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1968|issue=1|doi=10.1017/S0035869X0012965X|s2cid=161828080|access-date=27 October 2021|archive-date=27 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211027155602/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/abs/cambridge-history-of-iran-vol-v-the-saljuq-and-mongol-periods-edited-by-j-a-boyle-pp-xiii-762-16-pl-cambridge-university-press-1968-375/500FB3BC61352E3DF36AE63FD5D4CA16|url-status=bot: unknown | issn = 0035-869X}}</ref>

==== Ilkhanate (1256–1335)====
{{Main|Ilkhanate}}

[[File:MongolMap.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Mongol successor khanates]]

After Genghis's death, Iran was ruled by several Mongol commanders. Genghis' grandson, [[Hulagu Khan]], was tasked with the westward expansion of Mongol dominion. However, by the time he ascended to power, the Mongol Empire had already dissolved, dividing into different factions. Arriving with an army, he established himself in the region and founded the [[Ilkhanate]], a breakaway state of the Mongol Empire, which would rule Iran for the next eighty years and become Persian in the process.

Hulagu Khan seized Baghdad in 1258 and put the last Abbasid caliph to death. The westward advance of his forces was stopped by the [[Bahri dynasty|Mamelukes]], however, at the [[Battle of Ain Jalut]] in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] in 1260. Hulagu's campaigns against the Muslims also enraged [[Berke]], khan of the [[Golden Horde]] and a convert to Islam. Hulagu and Berke fought against each other, demonstrating the weakening unity of the Mongol empire.

The rule of Hulagu's great-grandson, [[Ghazan]] (1295–1304) saw the establishment of Islam as the state religion of the Ilkhanate. Ghazan and his famous Iranian vizier, [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]], brought Iran a partial and brief economic revival. The Mongols lowered taxes for artisans, encouraged agriculture, rebuilt and extended irrigation works, and improved the safety of the trade routes. As a result, commerce increased dramatically.

Items from India, China, and Iran passed easily across the Asian steppes, and these contacts culturally enriched Iran. For example, Iranians developed a new style of painting based on a unique fusion of solid, two-dimensional Mesopotamian painting with the feathery, light brush strokes and other motifs characteristic of China. After Ghazan's nephew [[Abu Sa'id Bahadur Khan|Abu Said]] died in 1335, however, the Ilkhanate lapsed into civil war and was divided between several petty dynasties – most prominently the [[Jalayirids]], [[Muzaffarids (Iran)|Muzaffarids]], [[Sarbadars]] and [[Kartids]].

The mid-14th-century [[Black Death]] killed about 30% of the country's population.<ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/kelly200509140843.asp Q&A with John Kelly on The Great Mortality on National Review Online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109165503/http://www.nationalreview.com/interrogatory/kelly200509140843.asp |date=2009-01-09 }}.</ref>

==== Sunnism and Shiism in pre-Safavid Iran ====
{{Main|Islam in Iran}}
[[File:Imam reza shrine in Mashhad.jpg|thumb|[[Imam Reza shrine]], the tomb of the eighth Imam of the twelver Shiites]]
Prior to the rise of the Safavid Empire, Sunni Islam was the dominant religion, accounting for around 90% of the population at the time. According to [[Mortaza Motahhari]] the majority of Iranian scholars and masses remained Sunni until the time of the Safavids.<ref name="Motahhari">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/iran/mutual.htm|title=Islam and Iran: A Historical Study of Mutual Services|work=Al islam|date=2013-03-13|access-date=2007-07-09|archive-date=2013-07-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730231845/http://www.al-islam.org/al-tawhid/iran/mutual.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> The domination of Sunnis did not mean Shia were rootless in Iran. The writers of [[The Four Books]] of Shia were Iranian, as well as many other great Shia scholars.

The domination of the Sunni creed during the first nine Islamic centuries characterized the religious history of Iran during this period. There were however some exceptions to this general domination which emerged in the form of the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydīs]] of [[Tabaristan]] (see [[Alid dynasties of northern Iran]]), the [[Buyids]], the [[Kakuyids]], the rule of [[Öljeitü|Sultan Muhammad Khudabandah]] (r. Shawwal 703-Shawwal 716/1304–1316) and the [[Sarbedaran]].<ref name="al-islam.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.al-islam.org/mot/iraqishiism/|title=Four Centuries of Influence of Iraqi Shiism on Pre-Safavid Iran|work=Al islam|date=2013-02-27|access-date=2007-07-09|archive-date=2013-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904232915/http://www.al-islam.org/mot/iraqishiism/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Apart from this domination there existed, firstly, throughout these nine centuries, Shia inclinations among many Sunnis of this land and, secondly, original [[Twelvers|Imami Shiism]] as well as [[Zaidiyyah|Zaydī Shiism]] had prevalence in some parts of Iran. During this period, Shia in Iran were nourished from [[Kufa]]h, [[Baghdad]] and later from [[Najaf]] and [[Hillah]].<ref name="al-islam.org"/> Shiism was the dominant sect in [[Tabaristan]], [[Qom]], [[Kashan]], [[Avaj]] and [[Sabzevar]]. In many other areas merged population of Shia and Sunni lived together.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

During the 10th and 11th centuries, [[Fatimids]] sent [[Ismailis]] [[Dawah|Da'i (missioners)]] to Iran as well as other Muslim lands. When Ismailis divided into two sects, [[Nizari]]s established their base in Iran. [[Hassan-i Sabbah]] conquered fortresses and captured [[Alamut]] in 1090 AD. Nizaris used this fortress until a Mongol raid in 1256.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

After the Mongol raid and fall of the Abbasids, Sunni hierarchies faltered. Not only did they lose the caliphate but also the status of official [[madhhab]]. Their loss was the gain of Shia, whose centre wasn't in Iran at that time. Several local Shia dynasties like [[Sarbadars]] were established during this time.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}

The main change occurred in the beginning of the 16th century, when [[Ismail I]] founded the [[Safavid dynasty]] and initiated a religious policy to [[Safavid conversion of Iran from Sunnism to Shiism|recognize Shi'a Islam as the official religion]] of the [[Safavid Empire]], and the fact that modern Iran remains an officially Shi'ite state is a direct result of Ismail's actions.{{citation needed|date=April 2023}}